


Some things that were lost can be recovered

by locuas



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Post-Canon, Trans Perfuma (She-Ra)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:00:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locuas/pseuds/locuas
Summary: It has been many months. Scorpia is trying to rebuild her kingdom from the ruins of the Fright Zone and Perfuma is helping her. One day, Scorpia and her people make an important discovery
Relationships: Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	1. An unexpected meeting

Perfuma was at peace. She was one with nature.

Everything was so quiet she could hear even the sound of the tiniest critter. Her mind could feel the energies everywhere. When she breathed, it was as if the whole world breathed. She was one with the world, and the world was one with her.

She could feel everything and everyone. May it be far away or close by. Only then she realized Scorpia had been standing in front of her for a while now.

“Scorpia?” she said as she interrupted the meditation to talk with her “How long have you been there?”

“15 minutes I think?” she said with a shrug “You seemed busy and did not want to interrupt or anything.”

Perfuma smiled.

“Oh that’s nice of you, but you don’t need to worry, I always have time for you.”

“So you told me” said Scorpia “But it’s like, ‘maybe this can wait’ or ‘maybe she already knows thanks to her meditation’ and I’m like ‘I don’t want to ruin her meditation to tell her something she already knows.’ But then…”

“Scorpia, you are rambling again” said Perfuma with a chuckle.

“Oh yeah. Sorry.” She said embarrassed. Perfuma could still not believe that someone so big and imposing could get flustered so easily.

“So anyways, what did you want to tell me?”

“Well. And I don’t think it’s that important but, you know, still felt like sharing it with someone because.” Scorpia took a second to breath before starting over again “You know how we have been looking at old archives of The Horde? Trying to free prisoners, reunite families and all that stuff? Well, we found these vague reports that go from way back until recently, they don’t say who the prisoners are or anything like that; just numbers and the reports are kept short. Still, someone thought it was worth trying to look into it and we found this old secret labor camp.”

Perfuma nodded, waiting for Scorpia to finish her tale.

“Now, this is just some guesses. But we tried to find when the camp was built and the oldest reports begin only a couple of years after I was born, which is also around the last time anyone had seen one of…”

“Your People! You found your people!?” ” shouted Perfuma. Jumping from the ground and holding Scorpia’s pincers in her hands. Scorpia had told her, of how she had never met any other Scorpioni and how everyone she asked had told her it had been years since they had seen one. The closest she had were memories from when she was a baby, but nothing more. Although she never told Perfuma, she could tell Scorpia had feared she was the last of her kind in all of Etheria.

Even Hordak himself had no idea what had happened to them, admitting he had forgotten since it had been so long ago and he had conquered so much. Enough said, Hordak saying that he had caused more suffering than he could remember had not exactly helped in making people more likely to forgive him, at least as far as Perfuma was concerned.

“Well, not yet. I mean, I haven’t been there yet. But… maybe?” she said, with a hopeful voice.

“Oh Scorpia! I am so happy for you!” she said, with genuine excitement in her voice.

Scorpia had worked so hard into trying to rebuild her kingdom as best as she could and these were by far the best news in a long while. They had hoped to at least find out what had happened to them and hope they were not gone forever. But the idea they were alive, if captured, changed everything. Suddenly Scorpia’s people were no longer a distant memory, but something alive, something they could find and rescue.

“where?” asked Perfuma, surprised at her own excitement.

“Let me show you.”

Scorpia took Perfuma from her room and through the corridors of what once had been the Fright Zone. When Scorpia had asked for her help, Perfuma had expected to not enjoy her time in the sterility of the Fright Zone at all. But, much to her surprise, the power of She-Ra had brought life back into the place, filling it with trees and bushes everywhere. Nature was recovering and Perfuma was glad she could witness it.

She had to admit, the place had become much more homely in the months had had passed. They had been cleaning the ruins and setting rooms for everyone who had chosen to stay. Even those from Plumeria who had come with Perfuma had a place of their own.

Perfuma had been living in the Fright Zone for the last few months, trying to help Scorpia rebuild her kingdom. So far, she had helped the former Horde Soldiers heal and forget everything The Horde had taught them. It wasn’t an easy job, but it was one Perfuma was more than willing to do. Meanwhile, her people were in charge of helping take care of the new plant life, teaching how to cook and many other seemingly minor but very important duties.

Scorpia took her to the situation room, filled with monitors and people working all day long and trying to their best to peacefully establish order.

As it turned out, not every Horde Soldier had surrendered. Many had taken advantage of the chaos brought by Horde Prime’s defeat to make strongholds all over the land and many bandits began attacking villages everywhere. If Scorpia wanted to rebuild her kingdom, taking out these remaining Horde Strongholds and providing aid to the villages everywhere was essential. But it was not an easy task, especially with the limited resources they had, but Perfuma was confident Scorpia would succeed.

Once they arrived, everyone referred to Scorpia’s authority, which Scorpia did eagerly. She was proud of Scorpia and happy that everyone in The Fright Zone could see what Scorpia was trying to do and followed her lead.

Soon, one of the monitors was showing a map of the territories that had been under The Horde’s control. Soon, the map began to highlight a small island the middle of the ocean. It wasn’t Beast Island, which was a relief.

“It’s on this small island here” explained Scorpia “It doesn’t appear in any other map and the area in general is too dangerous to go on boat. You need an airship, which we have. Also, communications are still down so we believe the people there might not even know the war ended.”

“Great, what’s the plan?”

“We wait for Catra and the others to come from space” said Scorpia, with a confident smile.

This confused Perfuma.

“Wait for the others?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s an ex Horde base and don’t you, like, send Adora to go all She-Ra and deal with that sort of stuff? Isn’t it her thing?”

Perfuma took a moment to try and comprehend Scorpia’s logic there. Adora and the others had begun their journey in space only a few days ago and it would take weeks (if not months) for them to return.

“Scorpia,” began Perfuma “This is your people we are talking about, are you really fine with leaving them waiting that long?”

Scorpia’s confident smile disappeared.

“I know” she said “But… I don’t know, what am I supposed to do? Go myself? What if they think I am a traitor because I worked for The Horde?”

Perfuma held one of Scorpia’s pincers in her hands.

“Scorpia…”

Scorpia met Perfuma’s eyes, with a smile she said “I know: ‘I can do this.’ Right?”

Perfuma nodded.

Soon Scorpia was giving orders to everyone in the room.

“Okay guys, prepare my ship. I am going in!”

“And I am going too!” added Perfuma.

“Really?”

“Of course, what friend would I be if I let you go alone?”

Scorpia looked straight at Perfuma and, with a bright smile in her face, she gave her a big hug.

Scorpia’s personal ship had been given to her when she had become a Force Captain. Its design had been made to resemble a scorpion and, as a warship, it was equipped with weaponry in case it had to be used in combat, but its primary use was transportation. As such, although not nearly as fast as Darla, it did not take long before they were flying over the ocean.

Perfuma wasn’t one for flying, but she had to admit it was a nice view. The ship in general was nice too, clean and shiny without a single scratch in it. But what surprised her most was to see Scorpia so confident while flying it.

Scorpia seemed perfectly comfortable in her seat and there was none of the awkwardness she felt with everything else. While flying, she knew exactly what to do and could do it as easily as breathing. It was a nice sight, Perfuma thought, and soon she found herself looking at Scorpia the entire journey until they finally arrived to the place.

The island wasn’t big; they could see most of it from their ship. It was surrounded by rocks and waves, making arriving by sea something only a fool would dare to try.

The labor camp was easy to find, right in the middle of the island. The place seemed like a Horde base next to an enclosure surrounded by a wall with people and buildings inside. While it was too far to distinguish any of the prisoners, they were able to tell enough to realize they had pincers and tails just like Scorpia’s. They had found them.

Scorpia’s excitement was contagious and soon she both and Perfuma were shouting in happiness. They hadn’t yet rescued them, but they had confirmed they were alive, and that was something worth getting excited for and were quick to land the ship.

As soon as their left the ship, a squad of Horde soldiers came to meet them, surrounding them and ready to attack them. Perfuma was more than ready to respond in kind, but before anything could happen, Scorpia began to talk.

“Hi. I am Scorpia and this is Perfuma. We wanted to talk with the person in charge. You know, if he is not busy.”

The soldiers seemed surprised by Scorpia’s request, lowering their weapons and unsure how to proceed. Looking at them closely, they were all wearing Horde armor but it was clear they were an older design, different from the ones Perfuma had fought. They also seemed to have taken notice of Scorpia’s ship, particularly how it still had the symbol of The Horde in it.

“You a force captain?” finally asked one of the soldiers.

“What? Oh yes, yes. I am a Force Captain.” That was not exactly a lie, Perfuma thought. Scorpia was an ex Force Captain and, if they wanted to be technical, she might be the highest ranking member of the Horde remaining in the Fright Zone.

The soldier reported to someone through their comm-badge and both of them waited to see what happened next. If it came to it, they would be able to deal with that group, but they were not certain they could do the same if everyone came after them.

“Follow us” said the soldier who had spoken “Warden Callix wants to see you”.

Soon, he and the rest of the Horde Soldiers began escorting them to the camp. Perfuma allowed herself a moment to breath, she was glad Scorpia’s positive energy had helped them like that. If everything went well, maybe they could explain things have this whole business could be resolved quickly.

The Labor Camp was bigger than what it had seemed from the ship. A tower stood vigilant, making sure nothing escaped its sight. The prisoners were hidden behind a wall with doors of solid steel blocking their way.

The soldiers took both princesses to the inside of the tower and to the warden’s office on the top. Once there, they were greeted by a man made of rock. He was a big man. Bigger than Scorpia and seemed stronger too.

He gave Scorpia a long look, carefully studying her before saying a word.

“I am warden Callix” he said, with a deep voice “I am in charge of this labor camp. I have been informed you were sent by The Horde, I supposed it is about the delay on the report scheduled for last month. We tried to send it, but communications have been down.”

“Last month?” began Scorpia. Perfuma wasn’t aware of the current status of the repairs in the Fright Zone, but she knew the communications had been taking forever to fix, having suffered the most damage during the final battle against Hordak’s forces.

“Isn’t that what you are here for?”

“Not exactly” confessed Scorpia.

Warden Callix raised an eyebrow (Perfuma thought it was an eyebrow) but did not say a thing.

“Okay so, maybe you should sit down before hearing this but… well, funny story: The Horde is no more.

“What?” began Warden Callix, clear irritation in his voice.

“Yeah. There was this battle, and then this guy called Horde Prime came. Maybe you saw his hologram?”

Callix did not say a thing, but his anger was clearly showing.

“So anyways. We are no longer at war and we don’t do this whole Horde business anymore. So you no longer need to be doing this prison camp thing… so if you could… free my…”

Callix grabbed Scorpia from her uniform and lifted her in the air.

“Do you take me for a fool?” He asked, anger and fury in his voice “How curious for a Scorpioni to show up claiming to be a force captain and tell us to free our prisoners.”

“Well… now that you mention it, it’s kind of a funny coincidence, I guess. Normally I would have asked Adora to…”

“Enough!” yelled Callix “I will not be fooled by this farce. I will jail both of you with the rest of the Scorpioni scum, where you belong!”

“Wait a second,” began Perfuma, furious at the mistreatment and disrespect of Scorpia “You heard her: The war is over and The Horde lost. We are here to free everyone and take them away from all this negative energy.”

“Silence!” Yelled Callix. He tried to attack Perfuma, she was barely able to dodge it, falling to the ground.

“Perfuma!” yelled Scorpia, horrified.

As if in response, electricity began to run through Scorpia’s body directly to her pincers. And from there, lighting appeared, striking Callix and sending him flying through the window.

“You okay?” asked Scorpia, worried for her friend.

“I’m okay, just a scratch.” Said Perfuma, still on her knees.

The alarm began to sound across the compound. Horde soldiers entered the Warden’s office and ran towards them, ready to strike them down. Scorpia was ready to attack them too, but Perfuma was quicker.

“Hold on” she said, putting her hands on the ground and trying to call upon her magic.

A tremble began to be felt and, before anyone could react, giant roots came from the broken window, attacking the Horde Soldiers and taking the princesses away.

They descended to the ground and began to run as more soldiers began pursuing them. Perfuma tried to use her roots and vines, but there were too many of them and, soon, they were surrounded against the doors to the enclosure.

“There are too many” said Perfuma, having difficulty to be positive “I don’t think we can handle them alone!”

She could see Scorpia still wanted to fight, still wanted to save her people. Maybe, if they worked together, they would be able to escape and find help. They knew the Scorpioni were here and maybe that was enough for now.

Then, she saw Scorpia turn towards the door.

“I have an idea” was all she said before blasting the door open with her lightning.

The explosion was strong enough for a cloud of dust to appear. As it cleared, they saw the inside of the prison.

Dozens. No. Hundreds of people with pincers and tails just like Scorpia’s had come to see what all the noise was. There were adults and children, people of all types and sizes. They were famished and in rags, but their eyes were shining bright with hope.

For a moment, everyone in the camp remained silent. Not saying a single word nor making a single sound.

And then, with no need for explanations or the like, one of the Scorpioni spoke:

“For Fraig Tzune!” they said, and a chorus responded “For Fraig Tzune!”

And suddenly, all the prisoners began marching outside and turned against their captors. The battle exploded and the chaos reigned.

The Horde soldiers were outnumbered one to ten, but they were better equipped and better trained while the Scorpioni were clearly in bad condition. And while the prisoners were probably able give a good fight through determination alone, it was clear the soldiers would have been able to overcome them eventually.

But the Scorpioni were not alone: They had two princesses on their side, and they quickly turned the tide of battle. Scorpia used her lightning to take down the heavier enemies while Perfuma’s plants forced the soldiers to break formation, which left them open to be stung by the Scorpioni.

Before long the battle was over and the soldiers defeated and tied up, with only those who had surrendered still conscious.

“You will pay for this!” yelled a defeated Callix trapped on Perfuma’s vines and unable to break free “Lord Hordak will not stand by this offense! He will show you true…” He could not finish that sentence because Perfuma’s vines were covering his mouth.

“Woohoo! Go Princess Duo!” Scorpia was jumping in place from all the excitement, and Perfuma could not deny she felt the same. It had been the most fun in a while, plus they had freed a lot of innocent people. Then they realized all of the prisoners were looking at them. They were looking at Scorpia.

They seemed to be studying her, surprised and confused by her presence. Everything had gone quiet and the only sound that could be heard was that of the prisoners whispering to themselves.

“…the hair is the right color…” “…she is almost as tall…” “…she saved us…” “Look at her Chelae…” “…you saw the lightning, right?”

“Hi” said Scorpia “You probably don’t know me but we came to rescue you and…”

Before she could finish, an older Scorpioni came to the front and everyone gave him a respectful glance. His head and beard were gray and he was missing an arm.

“What is your name?” He spoke, with a hopeful look in his eyes.

“Right. Name. Forgot about that.” Scorpia cleared her throat before introducing herself “My name’s Scorpia and this here is Princess Perfuma of Plumeria.”

As soon as she spoke, the entire crowd began to whisper the name to one another.

“Scorpia...” “…that name…” “Scorpia…” “Is she…?” “…why Plumeria?”

“Um… What’s going on?” Scorpia asked, more confused by the second.

“I don’t know” admitted Perfuma, sharing in Scorpia’s confusion. Usually when they rescued people, they tended to at least hear a thank you.

“Please, you must come with me.” The elder begged. At his motion, the crowd began to clear a path inside the walls.

“Actually, we came to take you out of here.”

“Please, it will not take long. There is someone who you must meet before we are ready to go with you.”

At that moment, Perfuma came to a realization. Something that seemed almost obvious in hindsight, but only now she realized.

“Perfuma? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine” she said, trying to not say anything “I think you should do as he says”

“Okay, if you say so… let’s go.”

“No” clarified Perfume “I think it’s better if you go alone… I want to check and see if anyone could use my help.”

“You sure?”

Perfume nodded and gave her a slight push. Despite her confusion, Scorpia did as she was told and began to follow the elder inside the camp. Part of Perfuma felt guilty for not saying anything, but she felt it was best for Scorpia to see for herself. After all, she would find out soon enough.

* * *

Scorpia was confused. And her confusion seemed to only grow.

She had no idea why everyone had suddenly reacted so strangely to her. She had no idea why the elder wanted her to follow him. She had no idea why Perfuma had suddenly told her to follow this man alone.

They were inside the labor camp were everyone had been kept prisoner. The place had a series of cabins for the prisoners to sleep in. As they progressed through the camp, Scorpia began to imagine how rough their living conditions had to be. She also recalled how famished everyone looked. The horrors of it all were becoming more evident in Scorpia’s eyes and anger began to grow inside of her.

However, she decided she needed to relax. So she tried to talk with the man in front of her.

“So… you have been here all this time?”

“Since Hordak decided to punish our people” he confirmed “More than a decade we have been here, forced into working for Hordak and his armies and hoping one day to be set free.”

“Well… I’m glad we were able to help with that… sorry, I did not ask your name.”

“I am Clancer” said the elder “I serve as an advisor and representative.”

“To who? The warden?” She had no idea why the warden would want an advisor among the prisoners. But Clancer gave a negative nod.

“No, not to the Horde, to her” he said, as they reached the cabin all the way on the back. At a first glance, it was no different from the others. However, upon a closer look, she noticed it seemed better kept than the rest and there was a diamond drawn on the door. There was also light coming from inside.

“Go, she is inside. She is waiting for you.” Clancer told her.

Scorpia had no idea what Clancer was talking about or who could be waiting for her inside that cabin. But she was curious, so she entered the cabin without much protest.

The cabin was small. There was one bed, one table and a desk.

Someone was sitting in front of the desk, giving the back to Scorpia. They were wearing a cape and a hood and seemed to be writing something down.

“Clancer,” Said a very feminine voice “I was getting worried. Tell me, what was that entire ruckus about? Is everyone safe?”

“Um” began Scorpia “I am not Clancer. He told me to enter, that you were… waiting for me?”

The person (Scorpia believed it was a woman) stopped writing and left their pen on the desk.

“He did?” She said, lifting from the desk and turning to confront Scorpia “Why would he…”

Upon seeing Scorpia, the woman lost her voice and kept froze in place. Slowly, she removed her hood and soon it was Scorpia who felt as if she had frozen in place.

The first thing she noticed was the white hair, as white as her own. Then she noticed the eyes, feminine and regal. She recognized the pincers, too, smaller than her own. And even despite the rags she was wearing, the poor conditions she was living in, she looked as elegant as in the photo.

Years had passed and she was older, but she was one of the two in the photo, there was no doubt. She was in the photo. A photo Scorpia had kept close to her heart for many years and treated it like a treasure of incomparable value.

The woman was the first to speak, barely able to contain her tears.

“Scorpia?”

“Mom?” She asked in turn, her own tears flowing through her eyes.

Scorpia had no idea how it had happened or when, but the next thing she knew was that she was being hugged like she was the most important thing in the whole world. And that she was giving out the biggest, warmest hug in her entire life.


	2. Memories of the past

The party took place that very afternoon. The prisoners could not wait to celebrate their long awaited freedom and to honor their hero: Princess Scorpia.

But despite being the guests of honor, neither Scorpia nor Perfuma were taking part in the celebration at the moment. They were busy dealing with a much more important task.

Scorpia had taken her mom, the former Crown Princess Delilah, to the former warden’s office, a place away from the crowd where they could talk in peace. Perfuma had come too, more than glad to help explain everything to Scorpia’s mom.

Delilah was sitting in front of the desk, listening to their tale. She was eager to learn everything that had happened during their imprisonment, separated from the rest of Etheria. She listened to the tale from beginning to end. She heard what Scorpia had been told and what Perfuma knew. She learnt of Scorpia’s life as a member of The Horde and of Perfuma’s involvement with the rebellion. She learnt of She-Ra and the battle of Bright Moon. They told her of how Entrapta empowered and befriended Hordak. Of the portal and the loss of Queen Angella. The Heart of Etheria, Horde Prime and the victory at the end.

And when they finished their tale, Delilah remained silent. Scorpia kept quiet too, letting her process it. She did not know how her mom would feel about everything she had told her and wasn’t sure if there was anything else for her to say.

Finally, Delilah spoke once again.

“Can’t say I am happy to learn Hordak did not get punished for what he did” she began “But I understand that’s just the way these things go sometimes. I am just glad this nightmare is finally over.”

It was true that Hordak had gotten away pretty easy from it all, partially because of Entrapta’s intervention, but also because of Catra’s, of all people.

She had been the one to argue Hordak declaring The Horde was no more and be let go would be more beneficial in the long term, than to punish him and allow whatever was left of his empire to turn him a martyr. And while not everyone agreed with the idea, Scorpia had felt it had helped a lot.

“Still, to think the legendary She-Ra would come from The Horde. That such a ray of hope could come from such a dark place is truly remarkable.” She said, thinking out loud. But as soon as she said that, shame and guilt were all over her face, as if she had killed someone.

“I am a Fool” she said while looking at her daughter, unable to find words “I did not… I didn’t mean… You are not…”

“Mom, calm down” said Scorpia, “It’s okay I get what you meant.”

Once her daughter had ensured her she had not been hurt by her words, Delilah gave Scorpia a delicate smile. Scorpia was in awe by the elegance her mom had.

“I know it’s hard to believe with people like Callix pushing everyone around, but there were many good people in the Horde who were pushed into doing horrible things” explained Perfuma “Most of them are now trying to start a new life rebuilding from the ruins in The Fright Zone. And some of them” Perfuma held her hand on top of Scorpia’s pincer as she continued “Left The Horde and did their best to help us defeat them.”

Delilah seemed thankful for Perfuma’s words. Perfuma smiled in return and she said.

“I think I will go downstairs and join the party, I feel like dancing.”

Scorpia was ready to come with her, but Perfuma stopped her.

“Stay here, you two still have a lot to talk about” she told her, a beautiful smile in her face. She left before Scorpia could say anything. Scorpia could only follow her with her eyes before Perfuma disappeared behind the door.

Then she noticed her mom looking at her with a warm expression, different from her usual regal presence.

“She seems nice” she said.

“Perfuma? Oh yeah, she is amazing!” began Scorpia, more than happy to talk about her friend “She helped me settle in Bright Moon, she likes to hear me sing, we drink tea together. She didn’t even get mad when I accidentally stung her! I felt terrible but she gave me a flower and…”

“Wait,” interrupted her mom “I think I know this one: You did not know she was behind you and she surprised you.”

“Exactly! Oh this is amazing! How did you know?”

“Well, let’s just say my courtship with Rutile wasn’t the traditional kind.” She explained with a nostalgic smile. Then the nostalgia faded and her expression became sadder and grimmer. She might have noticed Scorpia’s confusion at her mother’s mood because she continued,

“You probably don’t remember her. Rutile is… was… my wife and your mother. She… I lost her when we tried to defy Hordak. She was a general of Fraig Tzune and fought hoping to give you a better future.”

When she heard that, Scorpia recalled the photo and the two women holding her as a baby. One of the women was Delilah, sitting in front of her. But Scorpia’s mind was focused on the tall, dark-haired woman by Delilah’s side.

Rutile.

She finally had a name for them both: Her Mom Delilah and her Mother Rutile.

Crown Princess Delilah and her Consort Rutile.

Delilah and Rutile.

A mystery solved. A piece restored. An image transformed into a memory of a beloved. And Scorpia understood herself a little more.

She felt a pincer on her shoulder. She lifted her head and saw her mom by her side.

“Are you okay?”

Scorpia nodded.

“Yeah I’m fine. I’m just… I tried for so long to remember your names but I never could. No matter how hard I tried, or how long I thought of you, I had no idea what your names were. You had me and I couldn’t… I couldn’t even…”

“You were a baby” said Delilah, as she cleaned the tears from Scorpia’s face “Barely two years when I lost you. For you to remember me at all, that is more than I could ask for.”

Both mom and daughter smiled at each other. Two women that had lost so much, sharing a moment of genuine happiness that nobody would be able to take away.

“Now, let’s go”

Scorpia was confused, but her mom simply continued smiling.

“First rule of being a princess, Scorpia: you can be a little late to the party, but you can’t keep missing it, especially when you are the guest of honor.”

“I am not that important.” Disagreed Scorpia, feeling her own face turn red.

“You are to them, so it is important they know how much you appreciate them. And believe me; they have been waiting to meet Princess Scorpia for a long time.”

“Me?” said Scorpia as she and her mom began their way to the party.

“Everyone knew you had been spared the same fate as us. Many believed you would one day come to us, and when things seemed hopeless, that was the one shine of hope they had.”

“No way, I have only been doing princess stuff for barely a year.”

“And yet they were right” said Delilah, smiling proudly at her daughter, “you might not believe me, but all these years it was you who gave them strength to continue”

Scorpia wanted to protest, but they could hear the loud noises of the party already and soon were outside, with everyone laughing and singing to celebrate that they were prisoners no more. Eating with hope for the future and drinking in honor to the ones who had given them such a chance.

Like most Horde bases, the closest to something edible in store were ration bars, which had been running low even before the arrival of Scorpia and Perfuma. Luckily, Perfuma had been able to use her magic to grow many types of fruit trees for everyone to enjoy.

Music was playing. She did not know who was playing it or where the instruments had come from, but it did not matter. She did not know the tune, but it did not matter, because she understood its meaning. It was a happy song, filled with joy and energy that made you want to dance well into the night.

And when everyone saw the arrival of both mom and daughter, the crowd gave way so they could join. They bowed at their feet and raised their glasses. They dedicated toasts to Scorpia, Princess of Fraig Tzune and hero of the Scorpioni. They sang her tale, the heir to the throne that had come back for them.

They also sang praises for her companion, Perfuma of Plumeria, who was more than happy to share in the song and dance with the youngest in the crowd. Watching Perfuma play with the kids, with the same care and devotion she would take care of her garden, made Scorpia smile.

Kids. Kids with a bright future ahead, Scorpia thought. A future that she and many others had been denied. Within her, the desire to rebuild her kingdom increased tenfold. They would go back to The Fright Zone… to Fraig Tzune… and they would build a place that could be called home.

“What are you standing for?” asked her mom, giving her a little push towards Perfuma.

When their eyes met, the music changed. A slower tune, a more subdued one, but still one filled with emotion. Scorpia felt herself unable to do anything, but she did not need to say a word. Perfuma spoke instead.

“This song is so nice” she said, a soft smile in her face “it’s perfect for a dance, don’t you think?”

“I know! Um… so… You…” she could not make sense of her own words. Not with Perfuma staring at her with that soft smile of hers.

“You look great!” was the only coherent sentence she was able to spout.

“Thank you!” said Perfuma with sincerity, then she asked “Do you want to dance?”

“yeah! I would love to!” said Scorpia enthusiastically.

They began to dance to the music in the air, a dance of two. And soon, the rest of the crowd followed their lead and everyone began dancing around the princesses.

Only Delilah was on her own, standing away from the crowd and watching everyone else dance. Despite that, Scorpia could see her smiling, that she was happy.

Perfuma was also happy. She was smiling as she danced with Scorpia. Her happiness was as bewildering as a flower in spring, so beautiful that it made Scorpia wish to see it every day.

And that made Scorpia happy, too. To know they were happy, to watch them smile, to witness them filled with such joy, it was enough to make her smile as well. They were happy, and for Scorpia that was enough.

Scorpia and Perfuma had spent the night in the island. By the time the party had ended, it was too late and the journey too long. And while she had not said it, Scorpia wanted to remain with her people a little bit more.

The ship wasn’t big enough to accommodate everyone; they would need many more to bring everyone back home. Scorpia and Perfuma would leave and come back once everything was ready. They did not know how long it would take, but the Scorpioni were going home.

Delilah was coming with them. She would help prepare everything, but she also wanted to see for herself the ruins of what had once been Fraig Tzune.

She spent the whole journey looking through the window and witnessing the green world in front of her. The beautiful world that She-Ra had restored when she had brought back the magic The First Ones had stolen. Etheria had changed a lot; How much, nobody could tell, but everyone knew the change was for the best.

Delilah’s wonder changed when they finally arrived at their location. A mixture of surprise, nostalgia and horror were in Delilah’s face when she saw Fraig Tzune, when she saw the ruins of her home consumed by machinery and walls of metal and the machinery conquered by nature. Scorpia wished she could comfort her in some way.

The ship landed and the three were soon met by a welcome party. As Scorpia addressed them, she noticed her mom kept quiet, not wanting to say a word. She wanted to ask her about it, but then she was told her presence is required.

“Can it wait?” asked Scorpia “It was a long journey and I wanted to show mom around.”

It was her mom who told her otherwise.

“I can wait, Scorpia” she said “This is more important.”

Scorpia looked at her mom. Truth was that part of her still did not feel comfortable acting as a leader. She also believed it was her mom, not Scorpia, the rightful leader. But at the same time, she did not want to just pass all her responsibilities onto her mom, especially when she had just come back.

But if she asked her to do it, Scorpia would.

“Perfuma” whispered Scorpia “Sorry for asking but, could you show my mom around? I don’t want her to feel alone.”

“Oh! I would be delighted!” She said. Showing her the way, she took Delilah away from Scorpia and her followers. Scorpia had no idea how to repay Perfuma’s help. She was always so willing to help her out that it made Scorpia wish to be able to do something for her one day. But that was for another time, she had other things to worry about.

* * *

Perfuma didn’t consider herself particularly familiar with The Fright Zone, even after her time there, but she felt confident enough to show Scorpia’s mom around.

She showed her the places she knew and the ones she knew were safe. She explained to her how things had been and how they had changed once Scorpia had taken over and how nicer it was. She told her of the time they had infiltrated and how awful it had been under The Horde’s control.

They also met many people walking around. No one knew who Delilah was, but everyone was friendly to her. Some were surprised to see a Scorpioni alive; others tried to hide their surprise. In their eyes, she was someone looking for a new future and that made her the same as everyone who had chosen to come live there.

At first, Perfuma was worried she would be annoyed to be shown around when she herself had once lived there in the past. But it was the opposite: Delilah was carefully paying attention to what Perfuma showed her and what she had to say, she was genuinely interested in listening to her and learning everything she could.

It reminded her a little of Scorpia. Of how she could speak for hours about anything, but how she would always pay attention to anything Perfuma had to say.

Finally, they reached the Black Garnet, Scorpia’s Runestone. Objects of great power tuned to the princesses. Nobody else was in the room, only the two of them.

When Delilah approached the Runestone, Perfuma remembered she had been the crown princess a long time ago. The Runestone had been hers before Scorpia’s. She had been the elemental princess to guard the Black Garnet and The Horde took it away from her.

Perfuma wondered how it had been for her to lose her Runestone, to have it stolen from her. She thought of the Heart-Blossom, her Runestone back in Plumeria, and how losing it would feel. It would feel like losing a part of herself, she thought.

She wanted to ask the former princess about it. She wanted to ask her, if she had been connected to the Black Garnet and lost it, or if The Horde had taken it away before she could. She wanted to know if she felt regret or nostalgia.

But she did not say a word. Because she also realized that was too personal a question for her to ask. To ask her how it felt to have her birthright denied and taken away. She felt she did not have any right to ask such a question, the same way no one had any right to ask her how she knew she was a princess.

Once they left the Black Garnet room, Delilah spoke.

“You and my daughter seem pretty close.” She said.

Perfuma was a little surprised by the sudden conversation.

“We are good friends, yes.” She responded. She knew Scorpia and she enjoyed spending time to her, but she wasn’t sure if Scorpia necessarily considered her a close friend. She only knew that when Scorpia called, she would answer, and that the reverse was true as well.

Delilah smiled.

“Scorpia told me how she accidentally stung you when you two met.”

“She did? Oh, it was an accident but she was so sorry about that.” Perfuma smiled as she fondly recalled that night. “The first time I met her… actually met her… she came to us hoping we could help rescue Entrapta. We didn’t know what to think, but she was so sincere and nice. Honestly even if I wanted to, I just couldn’t remain mad at her for that.”

“You… like her? My daughter I mean.”

Perfuma wasn’t sure what to say to that. Wasn’t it obvious? What was there to not like about her? Scorpia was the most wonderful person Perfuma had met in her life. She was funny, kind, strong, Awkward, a sweetheart and a hugger. She was filled with so much life and energy. She could spend hours talking about anything and she always sounded excited when doing so. Yet when someone wanted to tell her anything, she would sit down and listen. If someone wanted her help, she was ready to do so. And even if someone did not ask for it, she was happy to try to be helpful. She was a ray of sunshine that never faded.

“Yes. I do.”

“Do you think…”

Perfuma dismissed the idea with a nod.

“I don’t know. I would want to, but Scorpia already has enough with running everything here. I want to help Scorpia be proud of herself, I am happy with that much.”

She would wait. It did not matter if it took a year or two, Perfuma would wait to tell her anything, to ask her out and to tell her of her feelings. What she wished, was for Scorpia’s happiness, and to help her realize her wish of restoring her kingdom. She was more than happy to just be by her side.

Then she remembered she was talking to Scorpia’s mother and her face turned red from embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe” said Delilah with a friendly smile. Scorpia’s smile.

“Really?”

“Of course” She nodded. Then she added, “What kind of person would I be if I could not help my future daughter-in-law?”

Perfuma heard those words and took a moment to process them. She was surprised by them, but she could see she was serious. Not sure how to respond, Perfuma gave her a hug, welcoming her back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the follow up to the previous chapter.
> 
> I am trying to not go into specifics with the timeline, such as when exactly Scorpia was born. In my head, she technically was born when The horde had already taken over.
> 
> Surprisingly, The first conversation with Scorpia and her mom was actually fairly easy to do. It was Perfuma's conversation the difficult one for me.

**Author's Note:**

> I did not actually plan to publish this yet, unsure if I would cotninue it beyond this chapter. But when writing the last part, I felt it was right to publish it for Scorpia's birthday


End file.
